A lot of the fun with travelling is the advance planning. Reading lots of articles and taking note of areas you have seen online and shared by others which you would like to visit.
Here are just a few websites I'd recommend: Japan Travel Guide, Japan-Guide, Matcha, DiGJAPAN and Being Japan plus there are more specific ones like Inside Kyoto as well as the usual Trip Advisor sites.
For timetable and route searches, try HyperDia.
We planned our trip and knew the first week would be in Tokyo where we would use the metro subway systems. Since our trip, via the above websites, we have learned there are daily and weekly subway tickets which can be purchased to save money.
But the second and third week of our trip to Japan involved the following long distance travel:
- Tokyo to Nagano (230km)
- Nagano to Kanazawa (240km)
- Kanazawa to Kyoto (260km)
- Kyoto to Osaka (60km)
- Osaka to Tokyo (520km)
That last leg, from Osaka to Tokyo, we chose to fly and included that in our return air fare from Sydney to Tokyo (Haneda airport). There are two international airports in Tokyo, Narita (NRT) and Haneda (HND). Haneda is closer to Tokyo and our preferred option. When we booked our flight with Qantas, who has one flight per day into Haneda, we added the flight from Osaka to Tokyo (code share on Japan Airways) and it cost only another few dollars. Bargain!
All the other legs would be by train and we had read all about the Japan Rail Pass here. This is a discount long distance train pass which can only be purchased prior to arriving in Japan and can only be used by Temporary Visitors, like us. All the details are on the website.
We had planned to buy a Japan Rail Pass for 14-days each prior to our trip. We went into the Sydney CBD to Kinokuniya bookstore which has a Japanese travel agent attached to it. When we asked the travel agent if we could purchase our Japan Rail Pass (at the time our 14-day pass were $560 each), he asked what our train travel plans were exactly.
As we told him each leg of our planned train travel journey, he was checking on the HyperDia website the price of the individual tickets for each part. When he had finished, he announced that he would not recommend buying the Japan Rail Pass, but to buy the tickets when we get there for a considerable saving. So we did not buy the Japan Rail Pass, because they are only a viable saving when you are doing a lot more long distance train travel than the four trips we had planned.
So, here we are in Tokyo and one our first day exploring the subway station at Shinjuku, we saw a big JR ticket office where you could go in and buy Shinkansen tickets. But it was very busy on the first and second day. On the third day when we walked past it was quieter so we went in to buy our tickets. This is what we ended up with, the following four tickets each:
All the other legs would be by train and we had read all about the Japan Rail Pass here. This is a discount long distance train pass which can only be purchased prior to arriving in Japan and can only be used by Temporary Visitors, like us. All the details are on the website.
We had planned to buy a Japan Rail Pass for 14-days each prior to our trip. We went into the Sydney CBD to Kinokuniya bookstore which has a Japanese travel agent attached to it. When we asked the travel agent if we could purchase our Japan Rail Pass (at the time our 14-day pass were $560 each), he asked what our train travel plans were exactly.
As we told him each leg of our planned train travel journey, he was checking on the HyperDia website the price of the individual tickets for each part. When he had finished, he announced that he would not recommend buying the Japan Rail Pass, but to buy the tickets when we get there for a considerable saving. So we did not buy the Japan Rail Pass, because they are only a viable saving when you are doing a lot more long distance train travel than the four trips we had planned.
So, here we are in Tokyo and one our first day exploring the subway station at Shinjuku, we saw a big JR ticket office where you could go in and buy Shinkansen tickets. But it was very busy on the first and second day. On the third day when we walked past it was quieter so we went in to buy our tickets. This is what we ended up with, the following four tickets each:
These tickets are printed on thin material similar to what you may know as fridge magnets, with the back a brown magnetic-like material.
Now let's explain how they work:
When we purchased these tickets we told the lady our plans: catch a Shinkansen from Tokyo to Nagano on May 6 in the morning. Then another Shinkansen from Nagano to Kanazawa on May 8. Finally a train from Kanazawa to Kyoto on May 10.
As a result we received these four tickets. The top one covers the entire "Tokyo Ward Area" to "Kyoto City Zone" and was JPY9830 ($124). This ticket must be used on every leg of the journey, with the second appropriate ticket stacked on top of it and both inserted into the ticket machine simultaneously.
The second ticket from the top is for our Shinkansen from Tokyo to Nagano. The Shinkansen name is "Kagayaki 509" and is for Seat 6-E on Car 9 and departs at 10:24am on May 6. This ticket cost JPY4400 ($56). This ticket also allows us to catch the JR subway from anywhere in the Tokyo metro area (such as our station, Shinjuku) to Tokyo station where all Shinkansens depart.
So to catch this first Shinkansen you literally put both of these tickets into the ticket machine at the same time. Likewise for the remaining legs, you put the first ticket along with the relevant segment ticket into the machine.
So you can see the third ticket is for us to catch a Shinkansen from Nagano to Kanazawa on May 8 at 3:18pm. Seat 10-E on Car 5 of the "Kagayaki 533" for JPY4960 ($63). This section of the Shinkansen line has only been open for just over one year.
The final ticket is from Kanazawa to Kyoto on May 10. It is not on a reserved train so we can catch any "Limited Express". It cost JPY2380 ($30).
You can see our total long distance train cost was $273 which is significantly less than the $560 it would have cost has we purchased a 14 day unlimited train pass before leaving Australia. Those unlimited passes are great value if you're travelling on a lot of long distance trains but we knew our travel plans and the travel agent at the Kinokuniya bookstore in Sydney recommended against it in our instance. He was right and saved us around $300 each.
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